Disclaimer: all characters, some of the dialogue and even most part of the plot here belong to Roger Zelazny.
In a badly plotted story they'd have paused outside the doorway, and I'd have overheard a conversation telling me everything I needed to know about anything.
--Merlin, Prince of Chaos
Leaving in a hurry always means forgetting something, at least in my case. This time was no exception. My sword. Not that it was a big deal; I reached under my bed to get a spare blade, clasped it, blew out the lights and went to the door. The plan was simple - first things first. I was going to check on the most important thing in Amber - the Pattern. I didn't know whether spikard was capable of inflicting any damage on the Pattern and I didn't want to find out. Had this happened in the times of Oberon, I'd have reported everything to the king immediately, but there was little use in talking with Random. Actually, I was afraid that he would do something stupid and spook the intruder somehow. I'm not saying that he's bad monarch, but he's just one of us with a superior status, and, unfortunately, none of us is anywhere near Oberon's league. So, everything went smoothly and according to plan, for the entire three seconds it took me to reach the door. And then I heard voices from the hall.
"...there is a small errand I want to run", first voice said. It belonged to Merlin. "Would you keep an eye on things here and take charge if she calls us in before I get back?"
"If one of your relatives strolls by, should I introduce myself as a lord of Chaos?" another voice asked. I could not identify this one.
"I thought you were also a lord of deception."
"Of course", stranger agreed, and I heard a clap.
"I'll hurry."
"Cheerio."
Listening to the recessing footsteps (presumably Merlin's) I thought about what I had just overheard. It wasn't very informative, but words "chaos" and "deception" had sent shivers up my spine. This stank. I heard remaining man's quiet footsteps and then some strange sound. It took me several seconds to understand the nature of it. I heard the click pretty soon - this man was as good with lockpicking as any of us. I heard the door open and close. Judging from the conversation, they were waiting for something to happen in Merlin's apartment (it was approximately in the direction from which the voices had come from), so Merlin's door wasn't locked. That left only one possible option - the visitor had just entered Brand's apartment (sound was too faint to originate from nearby door - Benedict's). For a moment, I was pondering whether this lord of Chaos was more important than finding the intruder with the spik... HELL, HE IS THE INTRUDER!
Ok. I made a deep breath. What is he looking for in Brand's room? There were a lot of interesting things there, but nothing worth risking political scandal. Except... Werewindle. I decided to go after the stranger to catch him red-handed and unlocked my door, making as little noise as possible. However, I had managed to open it just a little bit before hearing Brand's door open and close again, and then this guy was fumbling with the lock once more - to lock the door behind himself. I thought better and changed my mind about revealing myself. Rumours went that lords of Chaos are capable of destroying entire cities. While that could be just another exaggeration, I knew that some of them were highly skilled magicians, and this one probably had a spikard, Werewindle and no reasons to surrender to just one amberite.
I heard a shriek. Then, judging by the sounds, the intruder opened the door to see what had happened, then returned to the hall. It's not that I didn't have any chances in combat in this situation. Even though I never had any practice with a spikard before, I was sure that my chances were pretty decent. However, I was the only one aware of what was going on (well, more or less), and as such, couldn't afford risking my life no matter what chances. I heard footsteps approaching.
"What's the matter? You appear more troubled than when you left."
"Something totally different", Merlin answered, "I think. Any word from inside yet?"
"I heard a shriek from Jasra while you were gone, and I burned to the door and opened it. But she was laughing and she asked me to close it."
"Either ty'igas know some good stories or the news is favorable."
"So it would seem."
Ty'iga, ty'iga... Something familiar... Something from those tales Dworkin used to tell us when we were kids... Maybe it's some kind of chaosite metaphor? But I was more concerned about the name I heard. Jasra. Fiona mentioned that Brand's wife had been imprisoned, but Merlin's apartment was quite a strange place to use as a detention cell.
"Our conversation is concluded", Jasra's voice stated. So much for imprisonment. My curiosity finally overwhelmed my prudence; I opened my door, praying for it not to creak, and peeked into the hall. I only managed to catch a glimpse of the last man entering Merlin's apartment. White hair, dressed in black - apparently, this was the aforementioned lord of Chaos.
I considered all the facts again. This didn't look good. Lord of Chaos, armed with spikard, infiltrating Brand's apartment; Jasra, who hates our guts, behaving like she owns the place; Merlin, half-chaosite, covering up for them. But why, why would Merlin do something like that... Luke, it clicked suddenly. Merlin is Luke's friend, and, obviously, Luke somehow managed to convert Merlin. I'm probably supposed to say here that I never trusted Merlin. Except that I did. I remembered that look in his eyes when he had put down his weapon in front of Random, just like we all; he had looked sincere. Just like we all. Random would be upset. I sighed. Against these three, I didn't have a chance - alone. I took three trumps from my deck: Random, Fiona, Benedict. Royal flush, ladies and gentlemen.
I concentrated on the trumps and... looked away. I had missed something. Still holding the trumps in my hand, I carefully approached the door to Merlin's apartment and listened. I heard the voices but they were too faint to make any sense. I stood at the spot where I figured Merlin had been standing, closed my eyes and replayed the conversation in my mind.
Would you keep an eye on things here and take charge if she calls us in before I get back?
Not a word about Brand's apartment - Merlin had no idea! I removed the trumps. It was quite possible that Merlin had been even less aware than me, and I didn't want to set him up. At the same time, another part of my theory went awry. Werewindle is not so easy to hide, so the fact that Merlin hadn't expressed his surprise at the sight of his friend carrying one probably meant that it wasn't what spikard wearer had been after.
Walking as quietly as I could, I returned to my apartment to get Brand's key. Being quiet takes time, so it took me several minutes to get to Brand's apartment. It was dark, but I didn't want to risk lighting all the candles - too much light could be noticed from outside. Instead, I just lit up one candle and carried it. I went for the armoire first and checked the Werewindle, and sure, it was there. The fact brought both elation and confusion - I had no idea what to look for now. I looked around the room, and memories rushed in immediately. Happy and not-so-happy... Probably sounds boring and sentimental, but they got me in a trance for a couple of minutes. I forced myself to concenrate on something more useful. What was that chaosite looking for in here? Probably something magical, I answered myself, summoning the Pattern.
I saw it instantly - it was impossible to miss. A fresh spell, right there on the wall. I came closer to examine. This was strange, resembled disease somehow: large section of a wall common with Merlin's room was covered with many tiny cracks. I didn't want to risk probing it with the Pattern - with three magicians behind the wall, at least one of them could've sensed my manipulations. This looked familiar, however, resembling the Disruption spell I had witnessed in the past. I figured it was its chaosian variation. The spell would eat through the wall slowly, and one day, it would crumble from the slightest push or fall under its own weight.
I couldn't get the purpose of it. Chaosites conspiring to... expand Merlin's quarters? Kindergarten. Or not? This spell's main flaw was its slowness; there are much easier ways to break a wall. I felt that I was on the right track - timing was the key. For some reason, it was important for the white-haired man that the wall was going to crush not immediately but much later on. I inspected the cracks closely, trying to evaluate the disruption rate, wishing I could borrow Fiona's brain for a moment.
I went for the desk, looking for something to write upon - I wanted to make some calculations to figure spell's timing, hoping to stumble upon some clues that way. Instead, I stumbled literally, because I had suddenly realized that one bedpost was looking somewhat... strange in the Pattern vision. Something powerful was hidden inside. I looked down at my pocket, then back at the bedpost. This couldn't be mere coincidence - the structures were the same.
I raised my hand to reach for the knob, the pulled away. It was too easy, too absurd. Thieves usually try to steal, not leave something, especially something as powerful as spikard. I remembered the man's white hair. Maybe I had been wrong to not believe in Santa?
The more I thought of it, the more it was resembling some kind of bait. I didn't like the feeling. I consulted my intuition, and it told me it was time to do something smart and unpredictable. So I put down the candle, exited Brand's quarters and stood before Merlin's door, feeling growing confidence inside. This seemed to be the perfect move under the circumstances. As my left hand started knocking on the door, my right hand slipped into the pocket, touching the spikard, and my brain started working out some unsuspicious excuse to get Merlin away from his guests for a private conversation. I didn't bother planning the conversation itself. Too many options, too many unknowns. Bluff, threaten, open up? Things like this are better when improvised. "Sequence and order, time and stress - they are most important in this matter" - Brand's words.
I didn't get a chance to test my improvisation skills, however, as no one answered. I considered the meaning of this while knocking once again, just in case. I hadn't heard any footsteps or other noises from the hall, which meant that no one had left Merlin's quarters through the door. I didn't see any reasons for Merlin not to open the door and therefore assumed that the entire company had trumped out somewhere while I had been snooping in Brand's apartment. It was good news, actually - now I didn't have to worry about being detected.
I returned to my apartment, lit up a candle on my desk and opened a desk drawer. In this particular drawer I kept items that weren't too valuable but might prove useful some day. It was full of stuff, mundane and magical, so I took my time looking for what I needed. It was a nifty medium-sized wand, with an orange fancy handle and a red barrel - my colours. It had a hexahedral, spiraling shape, constricting towards the business end which was topped with a miniature crystal ball. Elegant, like all father's gifts. Grabbing the wand, I headed back to Brand's apartment.
Wands are rarely used by magicians of my level, but mine is a special case. There's a hollow shaft inside, with a drop of my blood rolling in it. This wand is, in fact, a magical probing rod. Thanks to its well-crafted magical structure, any spell intened for me would be triggered by my blood. If nothing else, Oberon knew how to make great presents.
I lit up all of the candles this time. Careful inspection revealed a trap spell near the bed, and I slowly moved my wand through. The crystal ball glowed weakly to indicate a magical presence but yielded no other reaction, which led me to the conclusion that this spell had been designed for some specific person or simply malfunctioned. Either way, it was probably Brand's old spell, and I had more important things to do than to sort out his mess. I checked the knob, unscrewed it, rummaged inside with the wand to check for any spells and finally retrieved a small bag. Having checked the bag with both Pattern vision and my probe, I took the spikard out of it and put it on my palm, perplexed with the complete lack of catch of any kind. It was strange; anyone could have retrieved it and put it on. Unless...
The moment I inserted the crystal ball into the ring, the ball started glowing bright red. Half a second later, I heard an emotionless voice calling out to me through the wand. "You're not Merlin. Find Merlin. Bring me to Merlin."
It took me another second to realize that damned thing was trying to brainwash me, and I immediately removed the wand. I knew I was secured from any kind of mental influence, but I was really creeped out at the moment. Of course, it could be just a small present from Merlin's chaosian relatives, like, they do have holidays, don't they? Maybe it's some kind of "christmas" there and maybe that guy really is a "Santa" coming for visit and maybe it's their tradition to hide presents in the dead uncle's bedroom and maybe the spell's only purpose is to keep the spikard from getting into wrong hands? Well, at least I tried to keep an open mind.
I tried to comprehend the entire picture. Sometime soon, the wall between the apartments would crash, and it would look like nothing but a weird accident to Merlin. He would come to investigate and find the spikard, which I was damn sure had its plans for Merlin. Someone had used one of the most powerful artifacts as a booby trap. Someone in the Courts was playing at large. It was a weird situation; I had no idea of who this game's participants were, but I did know for sure that I had an advantage over them all. I was one step ahead, and I couldn't afford to waste that step. I needed to make them show their cards without revealing mine somehow. If only I could trick them into thinking that everything goes according to their plan while making sure it doesn't... something simple... How about defusing the thing?
I had to give up on that idea after ten minutes of inspection - too complicated. However, as I was holding both spikards in front of me, trying to figure the difference between the "clean" and the "tainted" structures, even wilder idea dawned upon me. I let go of the Pattern vision and held them close to the candle light, kept turning the rings round and round in my hands...
"Yeah, they're identical all right. Or, should I say, interchangeable?" a familiar voice came from behind.
I turned around, but not too fast. I already knew what I was going to see: black cloak, silver rose and a confident smile.
In a badly plotted story they'd have paused outside the doorway, and I'd have overheard a conversation telling me everything I needed to know about anything.
--Merlin, Prince of Chaos
Leaving in a hurry always means forgetting something, at least in my case. This time was no exception. My sword. Not that it was a big deal; I reached under my bed to get a spare blade, clasped it, blew out the lights and went to the door. The plan was simple - first things first. I was going to check on the most important thing in Amber - the Pattern. I didn't know whether spikard was capable of inflicting any damage on the Pattern and I didn't want to find out. Had this happened in the times of Oberon, I'd have reported everything to the king immediately, but there was little use in talking with Random. Actually, I was afraid that he would do something stupid and spook the intruder somehow. I'm not saying that he's bad monarch, but he's just one of us with a superior status, and, unfortunately, none of us is anywhere near Oberon's league. So, everything went smoothly and according to plan, for the entire three seconds it took me to reach the door. And then I heard voices from the hall.
"...there is a small errand I want to run", first voice said. It belonged to Merlin. "Would you keep an eye on things here and take charge if she calls us in before I get back?"
"If one of your relatives strolls by, should I introduce myself as a lord of Chaos?" another voice asked. I could not identify this one.
"I thought you were also a lord of deception."
"Of course", stranger agreed, and I heard a clap.
"I'll hurry."
"Cheerio."
Listening to the recessing footsteps (presumably Merlin's) I thought about what I had just overheard. It wasn't very informative, but words "chaos" and "deception" had sent shivers up my spine. This stank. I heard remaining man's quiet footsteps and then some strange sound. It took me several seconds to understand the nature of it. I heard the click pretty soon - this man was as good with lockpicking as any of us. I heard the door open and close. Judging from the conversation, they were waiting for something to happen in Merlin's apartment (it was approximately in the direction from which the voices had come from), so Merlin's door wasn't locked. That left only one possible option - the visitor had just entered Brand's apartment (sound was too faint to originate from nearby door - Benedict's). For a moment, I was pondering whether this lord of Chaos was more important than finding the intruder with the spik... HELL, HE IS THE INTRUDER!
Ok. I made a deep breath. What is he looking for in Brand's room? There were a lot of interesting things there, but nothing worth risking political scandal. Except... Werewindle. I decided to go after the stranger to catch him red-handed and unlocked my door, making as little noise as possible. However, I had managed to open it just a little bit before hearing Brand's door open and close again, and then this guy was fumbling with the lock once more - to lock the door behind himself. I thought better and changed my mind about revealing myself. Rumours went that lords of Chaos are capable of destroying entire cities. While that could be just another exaggeration, I knew that some of them were highly skilled magicians, and this one probably had a spikard, Werewindle and no reasons to surrender to just one amberite.
I heard a shriek. Then, judging by the sounds, the intruder opened the door to see what had happened, then returned to the hall. It's not that I didn't have any chances in combat in this situation. Even though I never had any practice with a spikard before, I was sure that my chances were pretty decent. However, I was the only one aware of what was going on (well, more or less), and as such, couldn't afford risking my life no matter what chances. I heard footsteps approaching.
"What's the matter? You appear more troubled than when you left."
"Something totally different", Merlin answered, "I think. Any word from inside yet?"
"I heard a shriek from Jasra while you were gone, and I burned to the door and opened it. But she was laughing and she asked me to close it."
"Either ty'igas know some good stories or the news is favorable."
"So it would seem."
Ty'iga, ty'iga... Something familiar... Something from those tales Dworkin used to tell us when we were kids... Maybe it's some kind of chaosite metaphor? But I was more concerned about the name I heard. Jasra. Fiona mentioned that Brand's wife had been imprisoned, but Merlin's apartment was quite a strange place to use as a detention cell.
"Our conversation is concluded", Jasra's voice stated. So much for imprisonment. My curiosity finally overwhelmed my prudence; I opened my door, praying for it not to creak, and peeked into the hall. I only managed to catch a glimpse of the last man entering Merlin's apartment. White hair, dressed in black - apparently, this was the aforementioned lord of Chaos.
I considered all the facts again. This didn't look good. Lord of Chaos, armed with spikard, infiltrating Brand's apartment; Jasra, who hates our guts, behaving like she owns the place; Merlin, half-chaosite, covering up for them. But why, why would Merlin do something like that... Luke, it clicked suddenly. Merlin is Luke's friend, and, obviously, Luke somehow managed to convert Merlin. I'm probably supposed to say here that I never trusted Merlin. Except that I did. I remembered that look in his eyes when he had put down his weapon in front of Random, just like we all; he had looked sincere. Just like we all. Random would be upset. I sighed. Against these three, I didn't have a chance - alone. I took three trumps from my deck: Random, Fiona, Benedict. Royal flush, ladies and gentlemen.
I concentrated on the trumps and... looked away. I had missed something. Still holding the trumps in my hand, I carefully approached the door to Merlin's apartment and listened. I heard the voices but they were too faint to make any sense. I stood at the spot where I figured Merlin had been standing, closed my eyes and replayed the conversation in my mind.
Would you keep an eye on things here and take charge if she calls us in before I get back?
Not a word about Brand's apartment - Merlin had no idea! I removed the trumps. It was quite possible that Merlin had been even less aware than me, and I didn't want to set him up. At the same time, another part of my theory went awry. Werewindle is not so easy to hide, so the fact that Merlin hadn't expressed his surprise at the sight of his friend carrying one probably meant that it wasn't what spikard wearer had been after.
Walking as quietly as I could, I returned to my apartment to get Brand's key. Being quiet takes time, so it took me several minutes to get to Brand's apartment. It was dark, but I didn't want to risk lighting all the candles - too much light could be noticed from outside. Instead, I just lit up one candle and carried it. I went for the armoire first and checked the Werewindle, and sure, it was there. The fact brought both elation and confusion - I had no idea what to look for now. I looked around the room, and memories rushed in immediately. Happy and not-so-happy... Probably sounds boring and sentimental, but they got me in a trance for a couple of minutes. I forced myself to concenrate on something more useful. What was that chaosite looking for in here? Probably something magical, I answered myself, summoning the Pattern.
I saw it instantly - it was impossible to miss. A fresh spell, right there on the wall. I came closer to examine. This was strange, resembled disease somehow: large section of a wall common with Merlin's room was covered with many tiny cracks. I didn't want to risk probing it with the Pattern - with three magicians behind the wall, at least one of them could've sensed my manipulations. This looked familiar, however, resembling the Disruption spell I had witnessed in the past. I figured it was its chaosian variation. The spell would eat through the wall slowly, and one day, it would crumble from the slightest push or fall under its own weight.
I couldn't get the purpose of it. Chaosites conspiring to... expand Merlin's quarters? Kindergarten. Or not? This spell's main flaw was its slowness; there are much easier ways to break a wall. I felt that I was on the right track - timing was the key. For some reason, it was important for the white-haired man that the wall was going to crush not immediately but much later on. I inspected the cracks closely, trying to evaluate the disruption rate, wishing I could borrow Fiona's brain for a moment.
I went for the desk, looking for something to write upon - I wanted to make some calculations to figure spell's timing, hoping to stumble upon some clues that way. Instead, I stumbled literally, because I had suddenly realized that one bedpost was looking somewhat... strange in the Pattern vision. Something powerful was hidden inside. I looked down at my pocket, then back at the bedpost. This couldn't be mere coincidence - the structures were the same.
I raised my hand to reach for the knob, the pulled away. It was too easy, too absurd. Thieves usually try to steal, not leave something, especially something as powerful as spikard. I remembered the man's white hair. Maybe I had been wrong to not believe in Santa?
The more I thought of it, the more it was resembling some kind of bait. I didn't like the feeling. I consulted my intuition, and it told me it was time to do something smart and unpredictable. So I put down the candle, exited Brand's quarters and stood before Merlin's door, feeling growing confidence inside. This seemed to be the perfect move under the circumstances. As my left hand started knocking on the door, my right hand slipped into the pocket, touching the spikard, and my brain started working out some unsuspicious excuse to get Merlin away from his guests for a private conversation. I didn't bother planning the conversation itself. Too many options, too many unknowns. Bluff, threaten, open up? Things like this are better when improvised. "Sequence and order, time and stress - they are most important in this matter" - Brand's words.
I didn't get a chance to test my improvisation skills, however, as no one answered. I considered the meaning of this while knocking once again, just in case. I hadn't heard any footsteps or other noises from the hall, which meant that no one had left Merlin's quarters through the door. I didn't see any reasons for Merlin not to open the door and therefore assumed that the entire company had trumped out somewhere while I had been snooping in Brand's apartment. It was good news, actually - now I didn't have to worry about being detected.
I returned to my apartment, lit up a candle on my desk and opened a desk drawer. In this particular drawer I kept items that weren't too valuable but might prove useful some day. It was full of stuff, mundane and magical, so I took my time looking for what I needed. It was a nifty medium-sized wand, with an orange fancy handle and a red barrel - my colours. It had a hexahedral, spiraling shape, constricting towards the business end which was topped with a miniature crystal ball. Elegant, like all father's gifts. Grabbing the wand, I headed back to Brand's apartment.
Wands are rarely used by magicians of my level, but mine is a special case. There's a hollow shaft inside, with a drop of my blood rolling in it. This wand is, in fact, a magical probing rod. Thanks to its well-crafted magical structure, any spell intened for me would be triggered by my blood. If nothing else, Oberon knew how to make great presents.
I lit up all of the candles this time. Careful inspection revealed a trap spell near the bed, and I slowly moved my wand through. The crystal ball glowed weakly to indicate a magical presence but yielded no other reaction, which led me to the conclusion that this spell had been designed for some specific person or simply malfunctioned. Either way, it was probably Brand's old spell, and I had more important things to do than to sort out his mess. I checked the knob, unscrewed it, rummaged inside with the wand to check for any spells and finally retrieved a small bag. Having checked the bag with both Pattern vision and my probe, I took the spikard out of it and put it on my palm, perplexed with the complete lack of catch of any kind. It was strange; anyone could have retrieved it and put it on. Unless...
The moment I inserted the crystal ball into the ring, the ball started glowing bright red. Half a second later, I heard an emotionless voice calling out to me through the wand. "You're not Merlin. Find Merlin. Bring me to Merlin."
It took me another second to realize that damned thing was trying to brainwash me, and I immediately removed the wand. I knew I was secured from any kind of mental influence, but I was really creeped out at the moment. Of course, it could be just a small present from Merlin's chaosian relatives, like, they do have holidays, don't they? Maybe it's some kind of "christmas" there and maybe that guy really is a "Santa" coming for visit and maybe it's their tradition to hide presents in the dead uncle's bedroom and maybe the spell's only purpose is to keep the spikard from getting into wrong hands? Well, at least I tried to keep an open mind.
I tried to comprehend the entire picture. Sometime soon, the wall between the apartments would crash, and it would look like nothing but a weird accident to Merlin. He would come to investigate and find the spikard, which I was damn sure had its plans for Merlin. Someone had used one of the most powerful artifacts as a booby trap. Someone in the Courts was playing at large. It was a weird situation; I had no idea of who this game's participants were, but I did know for sure that I had an advantage over them all. I was one step ahead, and I couldn't afford to waste that step. I needed to make them show their cards without revealing mine somehow. If only I could trick them into thinking that everything goes according to their plan while making sure it doesn't... something simple... How about defusing the thing?
I had to give up on that idea after ten minutes of inspection - too complicated. However, as I was holding both spikards in front of me, trying to figure the difference between the "clean" and the "tainted" structures, even wilder idea dawned upon me. I let go of the Pattern vision and held them close to the candle light, kept turning the rings round and round in my hands...
"Yeah, they're identical all right. Or, should I say, interchangeable?" a familiar voice came from behind.
I turned around, but not too fast. I already knew what I was going to see: black cloak, silver rose and a confident smile.
